Medievalists take note: David Aaronovitch (yes, that David Aaronovitch) begins a new BBC Radio 4 series this week on the regime change of 1066 and its consequences for the English-speaking peoples. The episodes be probably be available for download via RealPlayer for a few weeks.
Posted by Alan Allport at May 26, 2004 10:48 AMYou know, this really perfectly captures something of the difference in how Europeans see history. There is just no way you'd ever see a program like this produced in America.
Sometimes when I tell people I meet that I study (well, have studied, at this point) medieval literature they actually get offended, or look at me as if I told them that I study cardboard boxes or collect bits of string.
Posted by: Alan Hogue at May 27, 2004 05:02 PMDon't they see a connection to the presumptively European-medieval world of high fantasy?
Didn't know (or maybe forgot) medieval literature was yr specialty. What kind?
Yes, some people thought I must be studying King Arthur, too.
As an undergraduate I specialized in allegorical and dream vision poetry, which includes much of Chaucer, Gower, the Roman de la Rose, and so on.
Posted by: Alan Hogue at May 27, 2004 10:00 PM